Apparatus for electrical production of nitrogen or other compounds.



No. 754,147. PATENTED MAR. 8, 1904 J. VON KOWALSKI & I. MOSGIOKI.APPARATUS FOR ELECTRICAL PRODUCTION OF NITROGEN OR OTHER COMPOUNDS.

} APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Wilma om UNITED STATES Patented March 8, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE;

JOSEF VON KOVYALSKI IGNAZ MOSCICKI, OF FREIBURG, SWIT- ZERLAND.

I APPARATUS FOR ELECTRICAL PRODUCTION OF NITROGEN OR OTHER COMPOUNDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 754,147, dated March 8,1904. A

Application filed February 21, 1903. Serial No- 144,501. (Ho model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J OSEF VON KOWALSKI, a citizen of Austria-Hungary,and IeNAzMos- 010m, a citizen of Russia, residing at Freiburg,Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Electrical Production of Nitrogen or other Compounds; andwe do hereby declare the foi lowing to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an apparatus for obtaining nitrogen compoundsfrom the air or other gases by means of electricity.

It is well known'that the passage of an electrical spark through the airwill result-in the production ofozone and nitrogen compounds ,containingoxygen.

The object of our invention is to provide means for-obtaining suchnitrogen compounds by electricity without the employment of complicateddevices for producing the 'sparks'in the different spark-gaps or formaintaining the proper size of such sparks.

"With this general object in view and some others, which will be obviousto those skilled inthe art from the description hereinafter, the

invention consists in the features, details of construction, andcombination of parts, which will first be described in connection withthe accompanying drawing and then more particularly pointed out in theclaims.

The drawing is a diagrammatic View of an apparatus embodying ourinvention.

Referringto the drawing, a is a primary winding of a transformerarranged to be supplied with current from a suitable sourceas,

.for example, by an alternator, (indicated at 6.)

may be supplied and the products withdrawn by any suitable means. (Notshown and not constituting a part of our invention.)

Atz' is shown a main inductance-coil h, ar-

producing'a series of sparks in the nature of an arc across the gapbetween the two electrodes of the respective consumption branch; butasit is necessary for themaximum production of the nitrogen compoundthat the periodicity of the oscillatory discharge be not too high thecapacity of the condensers g and the self-induction of the respectivecoils h are such that while the oscillatory currents produced in theconsumption branches have a frequency higher than that of thealternating current supplied by the secondary winding 0 still theirfrequency does not overstep the limit fixed by the requirements ofmaximum pro-f duction of the nitrogen products, as will be more fullyexplained hereinafter.

By employing a plurality of condensers in parallel with each other weobtain a reciprocal action between said'condensers, whereby theperiodicity of the oscillatory current is sufliciently high for thepurpose intended, While at the same time the inductance-coil. h preventssaid periodicity from overstepping the limits required, as above pointedout.

It is the purpose of the inductance-coil c'to eliminate or at leastmaterially reduce the production of a Wattless component in thesecondary circuit in order to maintain a high standard of efficiency inthe said circuit and in the main circuit also. The said inductancecoilvi, therefore, must be properly proportioned for the attainment of thisobject. Fur- 'thermore, in order to avoid the loss of energy throughhysteresis and eddy-currents in the transformer it is preferable toarrange the consumption branches in groups in parallel with one another,each group being in series with a group inductance-coil Z, each of saidinductance-coils Z being so proportioned that it will maintain theoriginal frequency of the alternating currents in all that part of thesecondary circuit outside the consumption branch by preventing thepropagation of the oscillatory currents by the condenser beyond itsrespective consumption branch. Moreover, by arranging the consumptionbranches in groups and each group in series with an inductance-coil Z weare enabled to retain the advantage of obtaining an interaction of thecondensers upon each other with the resulting necessary high frequencywhile at the same time preventing the production of the oscillatorycurrents in the leads 0 c and secondary winding 0.

The operation of our apparatus is as follows: The necessary air or gasbeing supplied to the receptacles 7t and the alternator 6 set in action,a series of electric arcs are formed between the respective electrodes 6and f by the charging and discharging of the corresponding condensers g,reciprocal action of the condensers on each other producing oscillatorycurrents of a high frequency in each consumption branch, modified by theinductance of the respective coils 72,, whereby a stream of sparks inthe nature of an arc is maintained in each receptacle is, such areacting upon the air or gas contained in and supplied to said receptacle,and thereby developing the desired nitrogen compounds. Owing to thecirculation maintained in the receptacle is, as hereinbefore described,the production of said nitrogen compounds is carried on continuously. Itwill be noted that in our construction the desired periodicity of theoscillatory currents is obtained without the employment of complicatedapparatus.

As an example of our invention we give the following data taken from aplant for the production of nitric acid: The secondary circuit had anelectromotive force of fifty thousand volts, producing sparkarcs ofabout twenty-four centimeters in 'each spark'gap.

' In each consumption branch the current was 0.05 amperes and thefrequency was about six thousand alternations per second, while thefrequency of the alternating current in the secondary circuit outsidethe consumption branches was fifty alternations per second. Theapparatus required thirty-three horsepower of electric energy, and withthis there were obtained eleven hundred and fifty-five gramsof nitricacid per hour from the surrounding atmospheric airthat is, thirty-fivegrams of nitric 'acid per horse-power hour. No attempt was made toobtain any of the other by-productssuch as oxygen, nitrogen dioxid,nitrogen monoxid, and the likebe cause the plant was operated solely forthe production of nitric acid. It was found that the frequency of thecurrent in the consumption branch should have a minimum of six thousandalternations per second, and while the production of ,nitric acid wasnot essentially influenced up to ten thousand alternations per second itwas found advisable not to go beyond the maximum frequency, because thenthe output of nitric acid began to fall.

Having thus fully described our invention,

what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with an electric circuit and a plurality of pairs ofelectrodesarranged in said circuit in parallel, of aplurality ofcondensers arranged in parallel, each condenser being in series with itsrespective pair of electrodes, and means for supplying alternatingcurrent to the circuit.

2. The combination, with a circuit and means for supplying alternatingcurrent to said circuit, of a plurality of pairs of electrodes arforsupplying alternating currents to said cir* cuit, of a plurality ofpairs of electrodes arranged in said circuit, said pairs being inparallel with each other, the electrodes of each pair being arranged toreceive between them the gas to be acted upon, a plurality ofcondensers, each in series with its respective pair of electrodes, andan inductance-coil in series with each condenser.

5. The combination, with a circuit and means for supplying alternatingcurrents to said circuit, of a plurality of pairs of electrodes arrangedin said circuit, said pairs being in parallel with each other, theelectrodes of each pair being arranged to receive between them the gasto be acted upon, a plurality of con densers, each in series with itsrespective pair of electrodes, an inductance-coil in series with eachcondenser, and a main inductance-coil in parallel with all theelectrodes.

6. The combination, with an electric circuit having a plurality ofconsumption branches arranged in parallel and in groups, of means forsupplying alternating current to said circuit, a pair of electrodes, acondenser and an inductance-coil arranged in series in each con sumptionbranch, and a group inductancecoil in series with each group ofconsumption branches.

7. The combination, with an electric circuit having a plurality ofconsumption branches arranged in parallel and in groups, of means forsupplying alternating current to said circuit, a pair of electrodes, acondenser and an inductance-coil arranged in series in each consumptionbranch, a group iInluctancc-coil in series with each group ofconsumption branches, and a main inductance-(mil in parallel with theconsumption branches.

8. The combination, with a tral'is't'oriner and means for supplyingalternating current to the primary winding-oi said transformer, of apair of leads connectedto the secondary winding of the transformer, aplurality of consumption branches in multiple between said leads andarranged in groups, a pair of electrodes, a condenser and an.inductanee-coll in each consumption branch, a group inductance coil inseries with each group of consumption branches, and a main ind iu:tance-:oil arranged between the leads and in parallel with the consumptionbranches.

9. The combination, with a transformer and means for supplyingalternating current to the primary Windingof said transformer, of a pairof leads connected to the secondary winding of the transformer, aplurality of consumption b anches in multiple between said leads andarranged in groups, a pair of electrodes, a condenser and aninductance-coil in each consumption branch, a group inductance-coil inseries with each group of consumption branches, a main inductance-coilarrangedbetween the leads and in parallel with the consumption branches,and a receiver inclosing' each pair of electrodes.

ln testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

J OSEF VON KOVVALSKI. IGNAZ MOSCICKI.

\Vitnesses:

Enema) von WALnKmoH, Fmrz NAsoALI.

